Melting Ice
by Dragon.21622
Summary: When Astrid runs into the woods to get a much needed break from the twins, she gets caught up in an unexpectedly harsh winter storm, but it turns out, that's not the only thing that seems to be slowly killing her. Hiccup runs to find her, but will he get to her in time, if he ever reaches her? Fluffy Hiccstrid story involving modern mental health awareness.
1. Chapter 1 - Escape

**So, this is the first fanfic I have EVER written, so any constructive feedback is welcomed and appreciated.**

 **I LOVE HTTYD 1 and 2, and of course Hiccstrid is my OTP. So I decided completely on a whim to try writing somethign about them.**

 **[Note: everything is in 3rd person, but I switch between who I'm focusing on. These changes are marked by a space between paragraphs and ellipses ... ]**

Astrid came into the room, halfheartedly slamming the door shut and letting it swing on its hinges behind her, not caring how much snow came into the room because of it. She was already covered in the white fluff from head to toe and it wasn't like it was going to start forming puddles on the ground anytime soon. The hut, which was more like some abandoned shack, to be honest, was barely warmer than the torrential blizzard raging on outside the wooden walls.

She hadn't meant to get stranded all alone, but this blizzard honestly came out of nowhere - okay, not exactly nowhere, they all knew it looked like it was going to snow soon, but none of them thought it would be this bad, and definitely not this quickly, including Astrid. Not like that would've stopped her from storming out of the clubhouse to take some much needed time to herself away from the twins, despite all of Hiccup's protesting.

Astrid stood there, just for a moment, and let all her anger coarse through her blood for a few moments before she broke and fell to the ground in pieces. A calm emptiness replaced the fury coursing through her veins as she crumbled even further to the ground, giving herself over to gravity and all its whims and weights, yet this didn't even calm her down. Instead, the same anxiety that has been plaguing her ever since she can remember slowly creeped back into her, making her sweat and worry about things that didn't even exist, but the thing is, it wasn't even worrying. It was panic. It was about absolutely nothing, but it was sheer and utter panic. And it's always been there. It's gotten better over the years, but still had to make some sort of reappearance for no good reason. She would've been furious at this and headed out to the woods again to practice her axe throwing if it weren't for, well, the snow, and for the overwhelming desire to just... collapse. So that's what she did. She ran away as far as she could go, considering the fact that you couldn't even see so much as your hand right in front of you at the rate this snow was falling at, and simply collapsed.

Silent tears began to stream down her face, all of her sorrow slowly exiting her body and freezing into tiny ice drops on the floor, the rest of her depression manifesting itself in the rest of her body in tiny yet agonizing aches and pains combined with such a strong and overwhelming fatigue that breathing almost seemed harder than running here through a foot and a half of snow. She took one deep, shuddering breath in, held it for a second, and let it all out as her body began to tremble. She didn't breath back in. Her light trembling probably didn't look like much from the outside, but gods, she felt like something she couldn't control was violently shaking her from her core, determined to dispel any positive or joyful thought from her body until there weren't any left. The silent tears ate away at her more, her body beginning to tremble a little bit more from the cold air cutting its way through her skin and seeping into her body as the trembling stopped and the stillness set in. She still hadn't breathed... but come to think of it, gods... it felt really nice for once. All she wanted to do was to remain in this state forever, to escape all the panic and fear that plagued her and just slowly... sink... into this beautiful, this wonderful...

...

Hiccup stormed though the snow, panic rising inside of him as he called out her name: "Astrid!"

He took a few more steps, yelling it again: "Astrid!" Gods, where could she be?! He was worried sick about her so much he thought he might throw up, but that didn't stop him from full on sprinting through over two feet of snow in a blizzard in hopes of finding the girl he loved.

"Dear Odin, please let her be okay" he whispered, his thought swirling around with the torrent of thoughts running through his mind at the moment. He couldn't see anything in front of him, no matter how hard he tries. Heck, he couldn't even see his hand when it was right in front of his face. The snow was beginning to turn into little drops of ice, pelting against his exposed skin along with the wind, which seemed to be putting in every effort it could to keep Hiccup from reaching Astrid. Not like that stopped him from trying even harder.

He continued to barrel through the snow, struggling against the wind pushing him in every direction imaginable, continuing to nearly scream out "Astrid! Astrid, it's Hiccup, where are you?! Astrid!" only to find no response. He took another step forward and his metal leg got trapped on something. He looked back in alarm, expecting to see Ryker or one of his sailors trying to drag him down, to discover that his leg was stuck on a tree root... under the snow. Great. He attempted to yank his leg free a few times, unsuccessfully, and only managed to slip and face plant into the snow. He got back up, and didn't notice how violently shaking he was until he saw his hands untangle the woven knot his foot got stuck in. His muscles were achy and his limbs were beginning to freeze to the point of near dysfunction. "No," he thought, "I can't die here, I can't, I just-" He was jolted out of his thoughts when the image of a cold, dead Astrid lay unmoving on the ground entered his mind and his panic and desire - no, need - to find her rose to a new level, causing him to scramble onto his feet and bolt in whatever direction he was going in with a new energy. "What if I don't find her?" he thought. "What if I'm too late, what if she's already dead and I couldn't save her, just because-" he was jolted out of his thought yet again when he slammed into a tree face first... again. Hiccup was filled with frustration as he cursed himself for running into a tree, or all things, making him slow down his search for Astrid...

It was a house. It wasn't a tree, it was a house!

Astrid was smart - scratch that, one of the most intelligent human beings he knows - so if she ran to find a place of solace with a storm coming, she would've - hopefully - gone into something like this. Hiccup frantically felt around for a door or entrance of any kind until he found the latch to a door - which was already unlatched. "Thank Odin!" he praised for a split second as he burst into the room, slamming the door securely shut behind him, only to have his high spirits ruined and destroyed and replaced with fear, shock, and dread as he turned around to see Astrid's lifeless body collapsed on the floor before him.

...

 **Yep! Definitely just HAD to end that with a cliffhanger. As much as they annoy me, it always makes reading the next chapter SO much more satisfying, so I hope it does the same for you. If not, who doesn't love a little anticipation, you know?**

 **Anyways, let me know what ya think and thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Lost

**In terms of overall writing skill and being more in character (as much as I can do that from 3rd person) I think this chapter is so much better than the first one. I know there's not a ton of Hiccstrid fluff yet, but I promise, it's coming SUPER soon!**

 **Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE** **constructive** **feedback and I'd love to hear some suggestions on what you want to see!**

 **[sidenote: I do switch focus between characters, even though i stay in 3rd person. Those switches are marked by a space and ellipses ... ]**

A massive lump immediately formed in Hiccups throat as he lunged towards her.

"Astrid!" he yelled at her as loudly as he was able to, shaking her shoulders in a desperate attempt to wake her up. She was ice cold. Hiccup's heart dropped and tears quickly began to form in his eyes as he gently slid his arms under her body, cradling her head in the crook of his arm, and pulled her as close to his body as he could. She needed all the warmth she could get.

"Astrid..." Hiccup said again, but this time her name only came out as a choked whisper. He should've known something was wrong, he should've asked her what was going on earlier before she stormed out of the clubhouse when the twins got o be too much to deal with again, he should've found her sooner and now that he didn't she might be dead and it would be all his fault. Okay, it technically wouldn't be, and in the back of his mind, Hiccup knew all these things weren't true, but he couldn't help finding a way to blame himself for it.

The tears forming in his eyes slowly began to roll down his cheeks, nearly burning into icicles on his skin as they went, but he didn't care. He would endure all the pain in the world if it meant he could have Astrid back - _dear gods_ , he prayed, _please let her still be alive_. He lowered his head next to her mouth and looked at her chest, expecting it to rise and fall like it always has, but he felt and saw no signs of breathing. _Oh gods_ , he thought, _no no no no no no, this can't be happening, she's... dear Odin, please let her live, let her be alive, let her..._ his panicked thoughts trailed off as more tears began to fall down his face, this time burning even more than they did before.

He couldn't believe it. She couldn't be dead, she couldn't be! She was a fighter, a warrior, and the strongest and most inspiring person he knew, a little cold couldn't kill her. He knew it wouldn't. Gods, if he had just chased after her a little bit earlier, none of this would've happened! His muffled tears grew into a quiet sob. He couldn't lose her. He just couldn't. She didn't deserve to die, of all people, why her? He didn't know what he would do without her. Without her constant support; her inspiring ferocity and perseverance; without her astonishingly intelligent advice and arguments that always kept him grounded and saved lives so many times he lost count; without her beautiful smile and gentle touch; without her always by his side, through thick and thin, no matter what life threw their way; without... her... he was lost.

All of this suddenly overwhelmed him as he broke and began to sob into her, his head pressed against her chest, willing her to stay with him with all he had, knowing he has already lost. He allowed his entire being to wracked by sobs of grief and despair while he sat there, collapsed on the ground of this abandoned cabin, listening to the soft beating of her hear-

Oh. my. gods. Hiccup sprung up from where he was sitting with a nearly unfathomable joy, crying out to the gods with a different prayer this time. A prayer of adoration and thankfulness.

She was alive.

 **And, another cliffhanger - sort of - what else? :)**

 **I'll be posting the next chapter within the next week**


	3. Chapter 3 - Found

**So, I ended up writing this sooner than expected - I am really enjoying writing this, so I hpe that you all enjoy reading it just as much!**

 **This chapter's longer than the last one and, of course, still ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, but it does have more fluffy Hiccstrid feelings and interactions in it. I promise there will be more as the story progresses, but I won't spoil anything :)**

 **So I stopped doing the switch between which character's thoughts 3rd person narration is focused on because I decided it would flow better this way, there still are minor switches, which are no longer separated by ellipses, but it's easy to differentiate. Don't worry, it won't make anything more confusing, but if it does, let me know as always :)**

 **Also, thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them and do actually take them into consideration when I'm writing and editing, so if you want to see a change, tell me! I am writing this partially for myself, but also for you all.**

 **Thank you so much again for all your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **...**

Astrid felt herself moving. Wait... she wasn't... She shot up with the little energy she still had remaining, which only resulted in her groggily moving about 2 inches away from where she was lying before. Last she remembered, she was alone. She felt a swell of panic begin to rise up inside of her as she thought " _Who_ is _this person?"_ I mean, seriously, who else would be out here in the middle of this monstrous storm except for... The thought of one of Ryker's men kidnapping her to use as leverage crossed her mind and she began to struggle against whoever was holding her even more, also resulting in virtually no movement on Astrid's behalf. She was so drained of energy at this point that just breathing was absolutely exhausting. Despite all that, she continued to at least try, but it wasn't any use. His arms were too strong, and the way they were wrapped around her made it almost impossible for her to esca...

Hiccup. Who else could it be?

She immediately relaxed as she felt herself being pulled closer to his chest and into his lap, her head cradled in the crook of his elbow and the rest of her body being held protectively against him.

 _Hiccup_.

She could barely muster the strength to open her eyes, so when she whispered his name, he was just as surprised as she was.

"Hiccup," Astrid breathed out.

"Astrid!" Hiccup hugged her as tightly as he could, burying his face in her neck. She was alive. She was _alive_ , and he could barely believe it, but at the same time, he was so incredibly grateful for this fact. Still, he needed to act fast if he wanted things to stay that way, which by Thor, he did.

"Astrid," Hiccup said again as he gently stroked her cheek, this time in a much more sincere and almost heartbroken tone. He looked into her eyes, which normally shone like sapphires, but were much more muted now. Seeing her like this broke his heart, and he was going to do anything he needed to do to make sure she would stay alive. unfortunately, the blizzard still raging on outside didn't make this much easier for either of them.

"What happened, where have yo-" he began to ask frantically before realizing that this was not the time. He would find all that out later, but right now, all he needed to do was make sure that she was okay. He took a deep breath and shook his head before starting over: "What do you need?" he asked, but instead of getting a response, he just watched the eyes of the woman he loved roll back into her head as her body relaxed even further, as if that was even possible at this point.

Hiccup began to panic. "No, no, NO!" he practically yelled as he began to shake her again in some desperate attempt to wake her back up. It wasn't working. "Astrid!" he pleaded, louder this time, but still no response. He placed two fingers on her neck, just below her chin, and felt a reassuring pulse. _Good_ , he thought, _she's still alive_ , but her neck was ice cold. For the first time since he initially saw her, Hiccup began to fully notice her condition. Her skin was pale, much more than normal, and starting to lose all color; her breathing was barely visible, if at all; and her clothes... she was only wearing the tunic and basic clothing she normally wore under her armor, but that definitely wasn't enough to keep her warm, especially in this storm, and they were covered in frost. Hiccup laid a hand on her shoulder and barely felt her shaking; it felt much more internal than external. Gods, he hoped with all his being she would be okay, but right now, that was up to him.

He looked around the small cabin in search of anything that could help warm her up. He saw nothing but a rickety old table with a matching bench, an empty coat closet, and a fireplace - a fireplace! It was mostly bare, but had a handful of kindling left in it with a small pile of twigs and a few cut logs to the side. Good. He could start a fire and warm Astrid up. He gently laid her down so she was leaning against a wall and started over to the fireplace, but then realized she needed something to keep her from losing any more precious body heat until then. He wasn't wearing much more than her, but he had enough time to grab an extra layer to haphazardly shove on himself as he ran after Astrid after she stormed out of the clubhouse earlier today. Normally he would've put at least a little bit more care into making sure he looked at least somewhat decent, being the heir of Berk and everything, but she was so much more important than any of that.

He looked down at himself and noticed it was covered in frost as well, but it was still better than nothing. He brushed off as much snow and ice as he could before taking it off and wrapping it around Astrid like a blanket before clearing more frost off of her. He smiled at the sight of her for a brief second, but then turned to the fire pit, where he began to quickly assemble the kindling and twigs into a pyramid-sort shape. He hadn't made a lot of fires before to be honest, vikings had this habit of just throwing a bunch of flammable things in a pit and lighting it with some even more flammable stuff, which normally worked for bigger fires as long as you had enough materials, but that's exactly what Hiccup was short on. Materials and time. He patted himself down and found some flint and steel in a specially made pocket on his pant. Gods, was he glad he decided last-minute to throw that on these pants, as a just in case. He clumsily swiped the flint against the steel a few times before he finally got a few sparks; normally eh was so much better at this, but he couldn't help his hands from shaking uncontrollably this time. _Get it together_ , he told himself. _For Astrid - do it for Astrid_. Not like he needed to tell himself that, so much of what he did on a daily basis was already for her, this wasn't any different. He took another deep breath, much slower this time, as he was afraid he would blow out the delicate flame that was beginning to form in the center of the pyramid, slowly making its way outwards, causing the twigs, branches, and eventually logs to catch on fire.

Hiccup's eyes began to water up again. He couldn't believe this was working. Maybe he could actually save her after all. The thought of Astrid entering his mind caused him to quickly turn around to see how she was doing, expecting her to be lying seemingly lifeless on the floor, but instead found her sitting up, her head between her knees and her fingers digging into the muscles on her shins with her eyes no longer tiredly closed, but this time clenched shut. Hiccup instantly began to worry, thankful she was alive (hopefully) and able to move, but also terrified and heartbroken at what might be causing her this pain. He quietly crawled over to where she was and sat beside her, gently laying a hand on her back.

"Hey," he whispered as he lowered his head so it was closer to hers. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Nothing was wrong, specifically, but at the same time everything was. Bu it wasn't the sheer weight of everything on Astrid's shoulders, or the fact that she had almost just frozen to death or died unintentionally by her own doing that undid her, it was the immense care and thoughtfulness in Hiccups' voice that caused her to break down into tears, allowing her body to be wracked by her sobs and she felt Hiccup wrap his arms around her again, pulling her in closer to him as he tried to fight off the living nightmares that were haunting her.

The only problem was the nightmares weren't outside of her, they wren't anything you could simply fight off with sheer force of will or power, they were inside of her, slowly killing her with each passing moment, and she wasn't sure that anyone could save her from that.

Not even Hiccup.


	4. Chapter 4 - Alive

**So I'm really surprising myself with how fast I'm writing these chapters! Wow! Sorry to tell you, but it probably won't stay this way forever. For now, though, I hope you're enjoying the short waiting times. I'll post the next chapter in a few days.**

 **More actual Hiccstrid in this one! (slightly)**

 **...**

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

No response.

"Hey, hey," he softly muttered into her ear.

"It's okay, I'm here. It's okay, you're okay, we're okay," he whispered, gently stroking her hair, which was almost frozen stiff from all the snow and the freezing air.

Still no response. Well, a few muffled sobs, but that was about it. Hiccup wondered if she even had the strength left to survive, let alone tell him what's wrong. Either ways, he needed to help her, and fast.

Hiccup glanced over to the fire to see how it was doing - there was some sort of flame, thankfully, but it needed some tending to if it was going to get any better. Hiccup hesitantly relinquished his hold on Astrid and began making a few adjustments to the fire, watching it slowly transform into some larger flames, all the while still worrying about her.

 _"What if she doesn't make it?"_ he thought, before quickly shutting himself down. _"No, stop, you can't be thinking like that - she's the strongest person you know, she can survive just a little cold."_

Hiccup shuddered just thinking about that last part - gods, it was freezing in here! Thankfully the fire provided a little warmth. Hiccup returned his gaze to the fire, expecting to see a pathetic little flame grasping for more sticks, but instead saw a full-blown fire, thriving in the space it had and nearly taking up the entire fire pit! He took a deep breath in and sighed it back out, enjoying the heat radiating off of the fire for a split second as he laughed at himself for being so lost in his own thoughts and worries about Astrid tha- Astrid!

He spun around quickly to check on her, but she wasn't in the spot where he left her. His eyebrows knit together in concern, the same worry he just had a minute ago raging inside him again as he scoured the room with his eyes, searching for some sign as to where she might be.

 _"No,"_ he mouthed to himself as the possibility of one of Rkyer's men coming to kidnap her crossed his mind. The worry inside of him was growing just as quickly as the fire had before he zoned out.

 _"They couldn't have-_ Astrid!" Hiccup yelped as he turned his head around just a little farther and had his thoughts again interrupted when he saw her sitting just behind him. Well, when people called him oblivious, they weren't kidding.

The unexpected sight of her had startled him so much he had half-way stood up, leaving him in an incredibly awkward position, which would normally make Astrid roll her eyes at him a bit and chuckle, but this time she only froze as their eyes met and began hyperventilating into a series of arrhythmic sobs as she slowly crumbled onto the floor.

Hiccup knelt down to the floor and cradled her in his arms, worry flooding his senses once again. He wanted so badly to ask her what was wrong and find out how he could possibly help her, but he decided against that, figuring the best way to help her right now would just be to hold her in his arms by the fire, giving her time to let out whatever she needed to and warm up enough so she at least wouldn't be at risk of hypothermia any more.

So that's what he did. Never once did Hiccup get lost in his thoughts, though. His mind was directed solely on making sure Astrid was and would be okay: listening to her sobs, which eventually slowed down into labored breaths; feeling her heart beat against him at a steadying rate; and never taking his eyes off of her, the fire, and the door, to watch for any possible intruders - just in case.

Once her breathing slowed down to normal and she seemed more relaxed, Hiccup decided to try talking to her. Just as he resolved to do this, Astrid turned her head to face his and made eye contact, freezing Hiccup in his tracks.

She looked up into his eyes, and they were filled with worry. He had every reason to be so. I mean, she had almost died, for Thor's sake! She could only imagine how destroyed she would be if that happened to Hiccup. She moved in closer to him, if that was even possible at this point, and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead on his lips for a second as he placed a soft kiss there before he leaned his head forwards so they were meeting together. His hands moved up from her body, sliding along her waist, to gently place his hand on her cheek, the tips of his fingers carded between her thick, golden hair.

He needed to talk to her.

"Hey..." he paused before continuing. "Astrid?"

He meant to ask her what was wrong, but instead got choked up in the middle of saying her name and noticed his eyes welling up with tears as he looked down at her like she was the most precious thing on Earth. Because she is, at least to Hiccup. He had no doubt in his mind about that. He took a shaky breath in, finally planning to ask her what he's been trying to figure out this whole time.

"What's wrong?"

Astrid sat up so she was facing him, reluctant to leave his warm embrace, but she needed to talk to him too.

She meant to tell him what was wrong, he should know, but she was on the verge of breaking down again, so she needed to restart her sentence a few times before even getting a word out.

Hiccup reached towards her again, longing to hold her in his arms again and make everything okay, but she shook her head and he settled on simply placing his hand on hers, intent on listening to whatever she had to say. As much as he wanted to hold her, they both knew discussing the problem at hand was the best way to fix it.

Astrid warily looked up and into Hiccup's beautiful eyes and found a sense of tranquility, the same sense she got whenever she ran into the woods to cool off, whether it was by herself or with him.

"I'm so sorry."

 **...**

 **And what's a good chapter without some sort of cliffhanger? I'm sure some of you disagree, but at least it keeps you on your toes.**

 **Thanks for reading, and, as always, reviews are always appreciated. :)**

 **ALSO: sidenote - if any of you have any ideas/suggestions for Hiccstrid stories and/or one-shots, I'd love to hear them and possibly write about them in the future!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Safe

**Thank you all SO MUCH for all the positive reviews and feedback! I love to hear that you all are enjoying it. :)**

 **So, this chapter is extra long (you're welcome) and I have to admit the chapters might no be posted as frequently as the first few were, but I will post a minimum of one chapter each week, even though I have a pretty good feeling it will be more often than that.**

 **...**

Hiccup's eyes widened in shock. He had only heard her say that a few times in her life, but disregarding that fact, how could she be sorry for _this_? None of it was her fault!

He squeezed her hand and allowed her to continue.

"I- I should've told you before." Astrid stated in a manner that was as strong and certain as she could, but she was still struggling to get the words out without breaking down into tears again, and it broke Hiccup's heart. She had always been so strong in the past, and sure, everyone had their flaws and by no means did he ever doubt that the undefeatable Astrid Hofferson had some too, but she had always seemed so... perfect. At least to him, she was - even like this.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her broken down before, either - he was the one person Astrid trusted enough to be even relatively open with her feelings about, and she loved him so much for that. But this time was nothing like the others. Hiccup had never seen her broken down this much before, despite everything they've gone through together, and that was what scared him the most. (At least now that she was alive).

Ignoring the worry swelling up inside of him again, he sat there, right in front of Astrid, intent on finding out what was wrong and doing whatever he needed to do to help her fix it. She had always been there for him when he needed it most, and he wasn't about to stop doing the same for her now. He rubbed his thumb back and forth on her hand reassuringly and kept listening.

Astrid took a deep breath in, trying to compose herself and her thoughts before she continued speaking. She was terrified. Terrified that he would get mad for not telling him earlier, terrified that he would think she was crazy, terrified that she would break down and not be able to pick herself back up if she shattered into pieces and terrified that she would lose the one person in the world who she loved most because of it. So much of her just wanted to keep this to herself, to come up with some sort of crazy excuse for this whole thing and move on with her life, but she knew that if she did that, this whole thing would happen all over again someday and result in a much worse outcome than it did today.

 _"Be brave,"_ she thought, _"be strong,"_ she told herself. _"Come on, if you can knock an entire army of men unconscious, you can do this."_ Even though this seemed so much harder than anything she had ever done before. And that said something. Now she had to say something too.

She lifted her head up to meet Hiccup's eyes, which were patiently yet anxiously waiting for her to continue. She took another deep breath. Not that that calmed her down much at all, but by Thor, she had to try.

"I- I've..." she sighed. "I don't even know what it is, but I've just been..." she sighed again, feeling slightly more exasperated this time. Gods, why was it so hard to explain this stuff?

She took a final deep breath and began again. "It's like something's chasing me," she stated. Hiccup's face took on an even more worried look, if that were even possible at this point, and glanced around the cabin they were in, as if he were looking for intruders or something.

Astrid smiled as much as she could given how she felt at his response and shook her head.

"Not like that."

Hiccup's eyes returned to her, the worry gone and replaced with a certain mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"No one's actually chasing me," she continued, "it just feels like that. It feels like I'm being chased by Ryker or one of his men all the time, even though I'm not, and I know I'm not, I just- I- I don't know why it's happening!"

Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed with concern again, but he seemed to be understanding it. Good. Or, understanding it at least as much as she was - which was pretty next to nothing, if she was being brutally honest with herself.

"It feels like, like I'm running from them all the time too - even when I'm just standing or sitting still, or when I'm about to go to sleep, for Thor's sake!"

She as starting to feel more like herself again, now that she was finally telling someone other than herself, and maybe Stormfly, about this. It felt like there was this huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders, but there was still so much more she had to tell him, even if she couldn't say it all right now. She knew she could talk to Hiccup about anything. anytime, and he would be more than willing to listen to and support her no matter what. She just hoped it would stay the same way once he finished hearing all this. Anyways, she had to tell him. There was no going back now.

"I can't eat. I mean, sometimes I can, but it's been getting so much worse recently - every time I eat or drink something, it feels like I'm about to throw it up - even when I just drink water! It's hard to swallow too - my throat starts feeling so- different, and then I start getting all these cold sweats and hot flashes, and it feels like I'm sick! Even though I _know_ I'm not! And I'm- I'm so tired, all the time- and not normally, but- it gets to the point where breathing is difficult, and just being alive takes so much effort, even when there's absolutely nothing wrong, I- I just don't know what it is, or if there's anything wrong with me, and my heart keep beating faster and faster but when I feel it it's at a normal rate, so I just don't know what's wrong and everything is just so overwhelming and everything sounds too loud and looks too bright and it's just so overwhelming and-" Astrid's attention was brought back to Hiccup when he ever so gently tightened his grip on her hand. She was speaking at such a fast pace she had broken into tears again without even realizing it, just as Hiccup had become so concerned about and focused on Astrid and what she was saying that he had tightened his grip on her hand without even realizing it.

Once he realized he was doing this, his instinct was to immediately release his hold on her, but he fought against it instead. For some reason, he flt that he needed to get her attention right at that moment, even though he didn't know why.

"Hiccup..." Astrid looked into his eyes with such intensity she felt as if they were the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely. A small smile crept up onto her face just looking at him. How on Earth did she end up with Hiccup, of all people, as her life partner? She loved him to Valhalla and back, and there was no one else she could even imagine spending the rest of her life with... but him. Her smile faded as the thought of him, or everyone else, for that matter, leaving her after all this entered her mind again.

Once Hiccup realized she was unlikely to continue speaking, he just had to ask.

"Is this what's been going on this whole ti- Is this- Is that what's wrong?"

Astrid glanced up at him for a split second and meekly nodded. He saw her body freeze up again and watched a single tear silently slide down her face. He wanted nothing more than for her to be safe, to be happy, to be healthy, and he hated anything that was keeping her from doing so; but more importantly, he hated anything that made her feel like she was anything less than she was and that she didn't deserve anything that she needed - especially help. To say that seeing something like that controlling Astrid and causing this much emotional damage on her broke his heart would be an understatement.

"Astrid..." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

She looked up timidly, her eyes glazed over with despair and... fear...

 _"For what?!"_ Hiccup thought. He could barely stand the notion of her not being safe in any way, but the thought of her not feeling safe, even around him... that was so much worse. And he would do anything he could to change that.

"Please... Always know that you can come talk to me, anytime, about absolutely anything, anything at all, and know that I'll always be here for you. No matter what." He took a deep breath in before continuing. "I'll never _ever_ hurt you or hate you for you being open with me about what's going on in your life. Astrid, I love listening to you talk to me, even if the only thing I can hear is the sound of your voice from far away, and I love that you feel safe enough around me to open up about things to me that you would never even dream of telling anyone else, ever, and I don't want that to change - don't let anything you're feeling or experiencing ever change that... please. You know you can trust me, and I value everything you say to me - so much - you know I would never tell another soul if you didn't want me to. And that's I promise I intend on keeping until the day I die. And-" He laughed for a few seconds at the sheer stupidity of what he was about to say played through his mind: "Astrid?" She looked up at him again; her eyes remained fixed to his nearly the whole time, but had started to drift away with time. "Please know, and always remember, that I will never, _ever_ , leave you - not even in our wildest dreams - because of anything you ever say to me regarding your emotions." He smiled again thinking about how unbelievably idiotic doing something like that would be before he asked her one more question: "Okay?"

He stared at her face expectantly, praying that she would show some sign of relaxation on her face, but he saw nothing, at first; her face was tilted down so low he could barely see her eyebrows, much less the expression on her face. Sadness mixed in with the storm of worry inside of him, causing it to grow even more powerful in intensity, into something much more dangerous and powerful, just as he saw Astrid's face directed towards his once again. The sight of her beautiful cerulean eyes staring into his calmed the storm down inside of him almost immediately. Hiccup sighed a little bit with relief when he saw that she seemed much more relaxed then before, even if she still hadn't replied yet. Seeing her more like herself than she was before was more than enough for him.

As she looked into his emerald green eyes, she felt as if she would break. No one has ever showed her this much kindness before on such a deep level, no one has ever loved her so unconditionally, no one has ever cared about her this much... except Hiccup. Her Hiccup. And with that, the fragile layer of thin ice holding her together shattered and she broke, allowing her body to be wracked with sobs as Hiccup hurriedly pulled her onto his lap and held her as close to him as he could. But these weren't tears of sadness as they were before, they were tears of joy, of love, of laughter, of such intense gratefulness that she couldn't even express it.

She pressed her face into his chest and felt his strong arms wrapping around her more tightly, softly gripping her side and rubbing small circles in her shoulder with his thumb. She let a few more small sobs to escape until all that remained was a small stream of tears slowly trickling down her face and onto Hiccup's shirt. She loved him so much. She hoped he knew that, but given what he just saw and how scared she was around him, a small part of her severely doubted that. She took a small breath in, her body exhausted from all the emotional stress she had gone through in the past few hours. There was one more thing she still desperately needed to tell him, even if it was just a reminder. He needed to hear it, and now was one of the times he needed to hear it more than usual.

"Hiccup?" She asked.

"Yeah?" He replied. To be honest, Astrid's sudden decision to speak in a somewhat normal tone after all that definitely surprised him more than just a little bit. Not like he wasn't thrilled to hear her voice again.

Astrid pulled her head away from his chest and tilted it upwards so their eyes could meet once again, glistening in pure admiration and respect for each other.

"I love you."

Astrid remembered few times where he had looked happier than he did right now; his face lit up like a child's did on the morning of Snoggletog, and his eyes shone with love and excitement.

He moved his hand away from her shoulder and tenderly placed it on the side of her face as he smiled down at her with so much joy it looked as if he were about to explode and kissed her with all the gentle passion he had, smiling against her lips as he felt her reciprocating with the same force and emotion. He tilted his forehead against hers, so thankful to have her alive, to have her safe, and to have her in his life; eventually bringing her back into his arms and she nuzzled her head back into his chest and his hand rested on her head, stroking her hair and softly placing a kiss on the top of her head before whispering four simple words before they both drifted into sleep, finally heated by the blazing fire melting their insecurities away, safe from anything the world had to throw at them:

"I love you too."

 **...**

 **Kinda cliche ending, I know, but it's also cute and I don't care how cliche it is because 1) it's HICCSTRID and 2) telling someone you love them is never cliche - it makes their life and yours so much better if you say it, so screw the haters and just say it! Speaking of that, I love all of you and all your amazing support. :)**

 **Also, I hope a few notes of mental health issues came across there - it's a bit difficult to incorporate into this time period because they didn't exactly know what stuff was back then, but I'm sure the issues still existed. If not, they exist in this story and that's that - I thought it would be a cool idea to take a strong female character and show a side of them that isn't exactly considered to be strong to hopefully inspire some of you. Depression and anxiety are TOTALLY real things that millions of people struggle with, and if you are one of those people, you are not weak. You're quite honestly some of the stronger people on this planet because of it; fighting all of that every day makes you nothing short of an incredibly fierce and strong warrior, and nothing anyone else says changes that. Opinions don't change facts. You are strong, you are powerful, and opening up to others, as terrifying as it can be, is not a weak thing to do. Support only makes you stronger. That said, I hope you all have a wonderful day/week/life, and tell someone you love them. Yourself included :)**


	6. Chapter 6 - Remembering

**Slightly short chapter for you all today - I am working on the next one, which was originally going to be part of his one, but it started sounding really OOC so I'm taking a break before returning to it. I did still want to post something for you, so here's this!**

 **Also, thank you so much for all the support and constructive feedback! If you notice a flaw (inconsistency, grammar and/or spelling issue, etc.) and you point it out to me, I will go back and fix it. I do proofread my work, but I still miss things sometimes, or things don't come across as clearly as I think they do, so feedback is always appreciated.**

 **Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!**

 **...**

Astrid's eyelids fluttered open and her eyes wandered the room, trying to remember where she was. Her vision was a little blurry from sleeping so long, so all she could make out were a few shapes that looked like a table and a couple benches. She heard a fire crackling behind her, somewhere she couldn't see, and felt its heat making her back warm, melting any frost that had been in her hair and clothes before and drying up whatever liquid was leftover from that. But that wasn't the only place the heat was coming from.

She finally paid attention to her tactile senses and felt two strong arms wrapped around her and a hand gently grazing its fingers back and forth across her hair.

 _Hiccup_.

Astrid started to breathe a sigh of relief once she realized she was in her lover's arms, but then froze as the course of events that just happened came rushing back into her memory: her running. Finding the cabin. Almost giving up - no, it was closer to actually giving up than it was to briefly considering it. Hiccup finding her. Saving her. Listening to her as she told him about everything that has been bothering her. Comforting her. And now he was staying with her, regardless of what that may cost him.

Gods, she loved him so much, in so many ways - in every way, in fact - she didn't know how to express it. But she knew that one thing she could do was to stay by his side and support him in every way possible for the rest of their lives. Deep down, she knew he would do the same for her without hesitating, no matter what the nearly perpetual stream of doubts inside her head tried to tell her. There would always be a Hiccup and an Astrid. Forever.

Once she snapped out of her stream of thoughts, she found herself feeling much more relaxed than she did when she started thinking about everything that happened. She must've tensed up when she remembered that, because Hiccup seemed to notice her shift in emotion as well. As long as his arms were still around her like they were now and he was still there with her. She could stay in this little moment of time forever.

"Good morning, milady," she heard Hiccup say. She felt her heart swell a bit with happiness when she heard his nickname for her.

Astrid finally breathed a sigh of relief, and, to her surprise, actually felt pretty calm after it. She smiled and looked up into Hiccup's dazzling forest green eyes before replying.

"Good morning dragon boy," she said with a voice barely above a whisper as she gratefully accepted a kiss on the forehead before nuzzling back into Hiccup's chest and smiling even more. She felt his arms tighten around her even more, his warm embrace extending into his fingertips, pulling every inch of Astrid as close to him as he possibly could.

She was alive. She was strong, she was healthy, and she was _alive_. _Alive_.

Hiccup let that statement sink further into his mind as his eyes began to fill up with tears again. In what world would Astrid Hofferson choose someone like him? This one, thankfully. Not like that stopped him from marveling at the fact that she had picked him, of all people, to be with, in almost complete wonder and amazement. There were few things that made him marvel even more: dragons, and everything about them; his father's acceptance of him and the dragons; every new piece of land or species of dragon that they came across; but most of all, Astrid. Just Astrid. A small sob escaped him, causing Astrid to shift in and look worriedly up at Hiccup.

She saw that his eyes were glistening with tears, and she reached her hand up to comfort him just as a tear slid down his face. She rested her hand on the side of his face and gently wiped away his tear with her thumb, shifting further around in his lap so she could turn around to face him. Hiccup's eyes met hers for a split second and he finally broke down and began crying. Astrid's hand hurriedly reached up to hold the other side of his face and redirect his gaze towards her once again.

"Hiccup," she said, "what's wrong?" His eyes finally met hers and she smiled. "You can tell me anything... please. No matter what it is." She hoped he would understand the reference to everything he promised her earlier. A faint smile appeared on his face in response to her statement.

 _"Good_ ,"she thought, _"better than nothing."_ Even thought she was getting much better, she still wasn't that great at this emotional support stuff - definitely not nearly as much as he was - but she tried best she could when someone needed it, especially Hiccup.

Her hand slid down from his face to his shoulders as she scrambled, trying to think of something else to say, but to her surprise, Hiccup took her face in his hands and kissed her. She looped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back with as much love and emotion as she could, in some hope that this could help him in any way that he needed. When he pulled away, he began lining her face with small and gentle kisses, all along her nose and her forehead, adding one on each cheek before pulling her in for one last kiss.

When Astrid finally got a chance to look at his face again, he wasn't crying anymore, but his eyes were still flooded with tears. As she examined his face more closely, she realized that he was looking at her like...

 _"Ohhh..."_ Astrid realized why he was looking at her like he had almost lost her... he did almost lose her.

She thought back to the series of events that she remembered happening before Hiccup showed up: storming out of the clubhouse, running through the woods, getting caught in the blizzard, and ending up on the floo- why in Thor's name was she on the _floor_? She knew now that she probably had started to freeze beyond levels that were safe, but that wouldn't be the reason for her literally collapsi-

She remembered.

...

 _She felt like she was being chased again, in the clubhouse. Everything was fine, I mean, aside from the twins nearly burning the place down... again, but she couldn't shake the feeling. And the pointless exhaustion slowly taking her down didn't help either. Especially since it wasn't just a physical exhaustion of sorts - that, she could deal with. It was emotional, too... it made her feel like just breathing took nearly as much effort as providing for the emotional needs of an entire village did, and there was no way in hel she had that in her. She just didn't._

 _She yelled at the twins for the thousandth time that day and looked frantically around for Hiccup. She felt like she was about to throw up, even though she only had water since breakfast - it was well into the afternoon at this point. He should be back soon. She knew everyone was watching her so she tried to compose herself and appear strong - yet another thing she didn't have the strength to do - and began pacing back and forth across the floor, her mind running frantically about - nothing! She was anxious and exhausted for no goddamn reason and she was sick and tired of it... quite literally._

 _All the negative feelings inside of her, the panic, the sickness, the exhaustion, became even more powerful with each step she took until she just couldn't take it anymore. So she ran. She ran out of the clubhouse and into the woods, forgetting completely about the oncoming storm, as if she were trying to run from herself - unsuccessfully._

 _She never stopped running, her sprint devolving into a run, to a jog, to a high-paced walk, to a constant stumble, to a near crawl. That's when the storm set in. They knew it could be bad, but not this bad. She shouldn't have run, but no part of her wanted to go back, she just wanted to keep running, farther and farther away from absolutely nothing until she couldn't feel it anymore._

 _The storm swirled wind and ice around her, blowing her off balance and causing her to fall more times than she could remember. The surges of wind blasted sleet and hail into her face, and the snow piled up into a thick, treacherous sludge. She lost all sense of her hands and feet long ago, her hands turning a dangerous shade of indigo, but that bitter cold began seeping into her arms and legs, causing her to slowly lose control over them as well._

 _She normally would've began panicking at this pint, determined on finding shelter and doing whatever it took to survive, but if she had collapsed and died right then and there in that hurricane of a winter storm, she wouldn't have cared. She would've been quite content with it actually._

 _At this point in the storm she couldn't even see her hand right in front of her face. She took one more step forward and stumbled into a flat wooden surface... there was no way that was a tree. She pushed the surface and felt in swinging open into a room... a cabin of sorts. She halfheartedly slammed the door shut after she stepped into the room, and then just broke._

...

She broke. And she wasn't planning to come back up from the torrent of emotion pulling her down towards the ground... she was about to give up, right then and there, and if Hiccup hadn't shown up when he did...

She would have died.

Astrid came surging back to reality as that realization finally clicked in her mind, and felt herself shaking... a lot.

Hiccup was staring at her wide-eyed, terrified at what was going on and what he might have caused. All he did was kiss her... it's not like they've never done that before. At first when Astrid starting shaking, it was just a slight tremble, so he took her into his arms again and began to gently rock her back and forth, trying to calm her down. Then it got worse. It had quickly evolved into full on shaking, and Hiccup began to think it was because of him. He had let go of Astrid, even though she was still in his lap, and it kept getting worse. Panic swelled inside of Hiccup as he desperately did whatever he could to calm her down, even though nothing had seemed to be working.

He cautiously wrapped his arms back around her and tightly gripped her shoulder with one hand while the other ran smooth circles on her back. That usually worked, even though he thankfully didn't have to calm her down from something like this often.

It wasn't working.

Tears blurred his vision once again as he thought he might have been losing her... he couldn't. No, not this time. His mind started to race with thoughts of her dying, here, in his arms, because he couldn't save her in time, and his breathing had turned into choked sobs. He had to be strong for Astrid, he _had to_ , but he couldn't help the overwhelming wave of emotion crashing around inside of him. So he sat there, trying to calm Astrid down, trying to keep her alive, trying to not break down himself, and then, it just... stopped.

 **...**

 **I am aware that this ending doesn't make much sense at all, but it ends here for a reason (see note above). I'll be posting the next chapter within a few days, and I promise the plot actually goes somewhere, so it doesn't consist of continuous breakdowns at the end of every chapter, don't worry.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Back to Reality

_"NO,"_ Hiccup thought. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't! His breath caught in his throat and he looked down, bracing himself to see the love of his life's lifeless body lying in his arms, all because he couldn't help her enough.

He looked down hesitantly, and to his indescribable relief, he saw her beautiful, alive, sapphire eyes looking back into his with a what seemed to be a new sense of understanding.

 _"Did she forget what happened?"_ Hiccup wondered as he was hit with a sudden realization as well: it was a flashback. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, thanking Odin that it was just a flashback and nothing more. Astrid was safe. She wasn't dying. Everything would be okay.

Now it was Astrid's turn to tear up. She gently laid a hand on the side of Hiccup's face and apologized.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I- I didn't mean to scare you like that, I- I'm okay."

She placed a soft and gentle kiss on his lips so he understood, and he reciprocated with much gratefulness. When she pulled back from him, she couldn't stop staring into his gorgeous forest green eyes. She could only imagine what it would be like to almost lose Hiccup... she _had_ almost lost him several times before, but neither of their scares had been as close as this one.

"I'm okay. Thank you," she said calmly, bringing Hiccup in for one last embrace before she began to stand up. She reached a hand forward, offering help, and Hiccup took it and stood up next to her. While Hiccup was more than capable of getting up on his own, they both knew it wasn't exactly an easy feat when you only had one real leg.

Astrid brought her hand up to her shoulder to brush any remaining snow off of her, surprised to find that there was none. It all had been melted and dried by the heat of the fire... and Hiccup, of course. She looked over at him to see if he was just as dry and snow-free as her as well, which he was, and realized he didn't have a jacket. She glanced down at herself. She was wearing it. Astrid smiled.

 _"Of course he gave it to me,"_ she thought, gratefully looking back into his eyes, which were glistening with a mixture of love, joy, and shock.

"Here," she said, taking off the jacket and handing it back over to him. "I don't need it any more. Thank you, though."

Hiccup was very hesitant to take the jacket away from her.

"Oh, come one, just take it, will ya?" she stated, thrusting the jacket into his chest so he had to take it. "It's not like I'm going to freeze to death or anything."

She felt him tense up beside her and tossed a thankful look in his direction.

"At least not anymore," she added, placing an appreciative kiss on his cheek as she walked to the door to check out their surroundings.

Hiccup merely stood there in shock and amazement.

 _"Did any of that really just happen?"_ He shook his head, trying to shake the nearly paralyzing stillness from himself, and looked at Astrid, who seemed to be her normal, functioning self again.

 _"Wow,"_ he thought. She really never did fail to amaze him. I mean, if anyone could have such a quick rebound from something like that, it would be Astrid Hofferson.

Once Astrid finished scanning her surroundings, she stepped back inside and caught Hiccup staring at her in almost pure adoration... again.

"Hey," she began to say, taking his hand in hers and looking deep into his eyes, making sure he had his full, present attention. "Thank you, so much, for everything you did... and I mean it. _Everything_."

Hiccup started to speak but Astrid interrupted him, placing a finger on his lips to keep him from talking.

"And don't you dare blame any of that on yourself. Got it?"

He hesitated, earning him one of Astrid's deafening glares, even though a gleam of playfulness shone through as well.

"Got it?" she repeated, more slowly this time. She knew he understood, he just didn't want to shut up and stop blaming himself for every damn thing that went wrong within a thousand miles of him.

He nodded. Astrid smiled.

"Good," she stated before looking back at the door she just came from.

"So what's it like outside?" Hiccup asked, "It doesn't sound like we're getting pummeled by a storm of snowballs anymore."

Astrid couldn't help but snicker at his comparison.

"No, the storm calmed down; it looks like it left completely. There's still a huge layer of snow on the ground, but nothing we can't handle. All the ice and wind did crust over the top layer of the snow, though, so it's going to be a slippery walk back."

"Walk?" Hiccup asked, somewhat indignantly. "Wait, but why would we walk, can't we just use our dra- ohh..." The sudden realization that neither of their dragons with them hit him, followed by him laughing at the thought of Toothless frustratingly scrambling around on the ice, trying to walk.

Astrid raised a questioning eyebrow at him and he explained that thought to her, causing both of them to nearly double over in laughter as they discussed scenarios of all their friends and their dragons trying unsuccessfully to walk on ice.

"Oh, gods," Astrid sighed, using her wrist to wipe a tear of laughter off her face. She looked back up at Hiccup, who took a deep breath to collect himself before returning her gaze. They were both fighting off fits of laughter - they could barely look at one another in the eye without breaking down into breathless giggles again.

Knowing this, Hiccup quickly diverted his gaze from hers and redirected it towards the door.

"So," he said, looking back at her, "you ready to go sledding?"

"What?" she asked, her features twisted in confusion. She barely had time to ask him what on Earth he was talking about before he rushed out the cabin, grabbed a slate of bark from a tree, and began sliding down the ice-crusted slope, using the scrap of bark as a sled.

Astrid shook her head and smiled as she bolted out the door after him, grabbing another slab of tree bark nearby as she slid down the hill after him.

 _"He would do something like that,"_ Astrid remarked in her head. But while he was a tiny bit insane, he was also brilliant and so, so much fun. And she loved him for that. And while he was driven by his crazy ideas, his drive was no match for her unbeatable competitiveness.

"Watch out!" she yelled after him, watching his shocked face with glee as she zoomed past him down the hill.

"Hey!" Hiccup yelled. He shook his head and smiled at her before leaning forward chasing after her as fast as he could on his sled - if you would even call it that. But hey, what worked worked, right?

They continued this race for a while until Hiccup saw Astrid coming up to the edge of a ravine, and panic began to rise up within him again.

"Astrid!" he yelled. No response from her - she seemed way too calm...

"Astrid!" he yelled again, louder this time. She was still in the lead, so she was pretty far in front of him, but they were both getting way too close to this cliff for comfort.

 _"How and why on Earth is she so calm?"_ Hiccup thought to himself. How, he knew: she was the most fearless woman on Berk, and no one he knew of matched her courageous audacity to never back down from a challenge. Why she was so calm, he had no idea, especially considering how not calm he was in this moment.

He saw her nearing the end of the cliff, too close to stop, and his heart dropped as he froze and expected the worse... only to see her flying up in the air across the ravine, safely landing on the other side.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and smiled again, relief flooding his system.

 _"Of course,"_ he thought, _"who else would've found a snowbank to use as some sort of the ramp at the last seco-_ AAAHH!" His thoughts were interrupted by a very involuntary scream as he realized he needed to find a snowbank to use as well. He frantically scanned the cliff, searching for where Astrid had hurtled over the ravine, and heard her yelling "LEFT!"

Hiccup sharply veered left on his scrap of wood and found himself flying over the deep abyss. It felt kind of like riding a dragon, actually, until...

"Hiccup!"

And, the landing... Hiccup kind of forgot about it again. He was so enveloped in the moment, just like when he was flying solo with Toothless, that he had entirely forgotten about his surroundings, and crash landed... again... on top of Astrid.

Once Hiccup landed - if you would even call it that - he looked at Astrid to make sure she wasn't hurt and found her lying on the ground, unconscious. He panicked, shaking her shoulder and trying to get her to wake up.

"Astrid!" he shouted, shaking her even more vigorously. He couldn't stand to lose her this time, he couldn't, he just - Astrid shot up from the ground, causing snow from her body to fly all over him, and turned around to face him. Gods, he looked ridiculous... his hair was disheveled, he was wearing way too little clothing to be out in this weather, and he was also covered in snow and scraps of dead tree bark. He also looked absolutely terrified, and despite all this, Astrid couldn't help but think about how adorable he looked even at times like these - even more so during those times, actually.

Hiccup was still frozen in shock and Astrid doubled over in laughter before reaching her hand out and placing it on his.

"I'm okay," she assured him, and he seemed to relax a little bit as he looked at the ground for a few seconds, thinking, and started running his hands through his hair, staring at her in shock and amazement.

"Astrid!" he nearly shouted.

"Yes?" she replied in a very teasing tone.

"How on- you- you nearly scared me to death!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Astrid raised an eyebrow, asking "And is there a problem with tha- Ah! Hiccup!"

She had been interrupted by Hiccup practically tackling her into the snow-covered ground, and they playfully wrestled with each other for a few minutes before Astrid finally pinned him down. Both her hands were on his shoulders, one knee on his chest, and her other foot jabbing into the snow by his side for traction... just in case. She stared into his dazzling emerald eyes, which now shone with excitement and joyous love instead of fear and worry, wondering what in Odin's name she did to deserve him - she had never loved anyone in her life as much as she did Hiccup.

She leaned down and kissed him, coming back up to stare into his beautiful green eyes again, and felt a sudden rush. Hiccup had flipped her over onto her back and was now on top of her, holding her with one arm underneath her shoulders and the other on the side on her face. He stared into her beautiful aquamarine eyes for a minute, all the while thanking the gods that the glimmer of determination and excitement had now been restored to her eyes, before leaning down to kiss her again.

When they came back up for air, their faces were hardly separated from each other. Astrid had wrapped her arms around his neck with the fingers of one hand carded into his thick, silky hair, and was now playing with one of the braids she had made in his hair with her thumb, flicking it back and forth. Hiccup pulled her in for a hug before they sat up next to each other, facing their little village on Dragon's Edge.

They both sat there for a while, leaning on each other and staring at the edge, recalling everything that had happened there thus far and everything that had brought them closer together. Their relationship officially began there, and so many milestones along the way have happened there as well, and neither of them could have been more thankful for everything that had happened. The good, the bad; the celebrations, the mourning; the progress, the setbacks. While life there had been far beyond challenging at times, it was undoubtedly worth it. Nothing could change that fact.

Hiccup sat there with his arm around Astrid and his head leaning on hers until he noticed that they were both shivering. Astrid must've noticed as well, because she stood up and offered her hand to him, helping him stand up.

She didn't let go of his hand when she asked, "Ready?" at which Hiccup smiled and nodded, linking his arm through hers as they peacefully made their way back to the edge.

 **...**

 **So this may or may not be the last chapter, I still have to decide, but I have started a couple (yes, Hiccstrid) one-shots and I have an idea for another story as well. Thank you all so much for all your support and for reading this, and I really hope you enjoyed reading ti! Love you all! :)**


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